BERING STRAIT SUBSISTENCE KING CRAB FISHERY

UPDATE

BY

Jim Magdanz and Annie Olanna

Technical Paper No. 117

Division of Subsistence

Alaska Department of Fish and Game

Nome

March 1985

ABSTRACT

This report documents subsistence crab fishing in the Bering Strait

area, a continuing project by the Division of Subsistence that began in

1980. A large vessel commercial crab fishery was introduced in the area

in 1977. Subsequently, subsistence crab harvests began declining. In

1983, commercial vessels reportedly disrupted subsistence seal hunting

activities near St. Lawrence Island.

The Board of Fisheries has attempted to-minimize the conflict and

provide for continuing subsistence opportunities by adjusting commercial

crabbing seasons, commercial harvests, and creating closed waters. In

1984, the Board created a new St. Lawrence -Island section, distinct from

the St. Matthew section.

Division of Subsistence surveys of a sample of 38 households in

Gambell and Savoonga revealed average to slightly above average .effort

and harvest in 1984. The 1984 average household harvests were 81.4 crab

at Gambell and 23.5 crab at the Kookoolik, near Savoonga. In 1984, only

one or two commercial crab vessels sailed to the new section to fish

commercially. No commercial harvest was reported. C,onsequently, the

conflict between subsistence seal hunters and commercial vessels was not

repeated.

Commercial crabbing has been open for eight years in the Norton

Sound and St. Lawrence Island sections. It would appear that a balance

may be emerging between the reproduction of local crab populations, on

the one hand, and the harvests of crab by commercial and subsistence

crabbers, on the other.

i

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii

List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 The Research Problem Methodology

VILLAGE CRAB HARVESTS IN 1984 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Gambell Savoonga

SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

APPENDIX 1. PROTOCOL FOR VILLAGE CRAB SURVEY.......................15

APPENDIX 2. 1984 SUBSISTENCE HARVESTS -- RAW DATA..................16 Gambell Savoonga

BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

ii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. The Southern Portion of the St. Lawrence Island Section of the Northern District of Statistical Area Q (Bering Sea)..... 3

Figure 2. Average Annual Catch Per House and Average Daily Catch Per House in Gambell from 1975 to 1984 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Figure 3. Average Annual Catch Per House and Average Daily Catch Per House on the North Side of St. Lawrence Island by Savoonga Crabbers from 1975 to 1984 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i3

iii

INTRODUCTION

Red and blue king crab have long been a part of the winter diet in

Norton Sound and Bering Strait villages. They usually are caught

through the sea ice using weighted lines, pots, or hoops. Crab can make

a substantial contribution to local diets. The average permit holder in

Nome caught 125 crab in 1978.

In 1977, the Board of Fisheries introduced a summer commercial red

king crab fishery in Norton Sound. Attracting large vessels- from Dutch

Harbor; Kodiak, and Seattie, the fishery initially was very promising.

But after two years of increasing commercial harvests, a 1979 National

Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) trawl survey produced evidence of a

declining population. The commercial guideline harvests were reduced.

The 1982 harvest was less than i0 percent of the 1979 harvest. By 1980,

subsistence harvests were declining as well. Annual catch per household

in Nome, for example, dropped to an average of I7 crab in 1981. Crab

harvests in other area villages dropped sharply. In some years in some

villages, virtually no crab .were harvested.

Both the Division of Commercial Fisheries and the Division of

Subsistence intensified research on Norton Sound and Bering Strait crab.

Special attention was paid to the -previously undocumented village

subsistence crab fishery. This report is the fifth in a series of

technical papers documenting the subsistence fishery.

For the first time since 1980, there are no proposals before the

Board of Fisheries designed specifically to alter management of the

summer commercial fishery in either the Norton Sound or the St. Lawrence

Island sections. The red king crab population in Norton Sound, although

1

depressed, appears healthy. In most villages, subsistence crab harvests

are improving. Nome harvests in 1983 and 1984 approximate 1977 levels.

A balance may have been achieved between the productivity of the crab

population and the harvests of the subsistence and commercial fisheries.

In 1984, the Board of Fisheries heard reports from Gambell crabbers

of a conflict between subsistence seal hunters and the commercial crab

fleet, which aggravated the conflict between subsistence crabbers. and

the fleet (Magdanz and Olanna 1984:33-34). The Board increased the

waters closed to commercial fishing around St. Lawrence Island, Diomede

Island, and King Island. It created a St. Lawrence Island section in

.the Northern District of the Bering Sea (Fig. 1). The Boa,rd requested

that the Division of Subsistence continue to monitor the situation, and

report its findings during the 1985 shellfish meeting. This is the

division's report.

THE RESEARCH PROBLEM

For this report, researchers focused on the newly created St. Lawrence

Island section. Blue king crab are the predominant species. In past

years, the commercial fleet has been most active in waters north and

west of St. Lawrence Island. Little activity has been reported around

Diomede Island and King Island sir&e 1981. The potential for conflict,

therefore, is greatest near the villages of Gambell and Savoonga on St.

Lawrence Island.

2

-- _

AREA CLOSED TO COMMERCIAL CRABBING

Figure 1. The Southern Portion of the St. Lawrence Island Section of the Northern District of Statistical Area Q (Bering Sea). The map shows the location of the villages of Gambell and Savoonga on St. Lawrence Island, where Subsistence crabbing surveys were conducted in 1984.

3

The purpose of this report is to extend the baseline of harvest

data for both Gambell and Savoonga, to note any significant changes in

the fishery, and to report on any conflicts between user groups.

METHODOLOGY

In 1980, Dan Thomas identified Norton Sound and Bering Strait villages

where crabbing regularly occurs. He visited each of those villages,

interviewed key informants about the history of the fishery, surveyed

samples of the village populations to determine harvest levels, and

published his results of his investigations (Thomas 1981). Subsequently., ,

the division selected key villages and administered surveys in 1981,

1982, 1983, and 1984.

Village harvest data for this update were gathered during house to

house visits in Gambell and Savoonga. Researchers were guided by a

protocol 'of questions (see Appendix 1) and recorded answers in field

notes. Respondents who did not crab were asked only two questions and

the sessions might be relatively brief. The entire protocol was used

with respondents who had fished both handlines and pots for several

months. Some interviews went beyond simple recitation of harvests.

When interviews provided data pertinent to the study, those data were

included in the findings below.

Savoonga and Gambell are large villages with approximately 400 to

500 residents, respectively. There are 90 to 100 households in each

village. When Thomas conducted the initial crab surveys, he selected 30

per cent samples of the households in Savoonga and Gambell. In

4

subsequent years, researchers have attempted to contact these same

households.

Because only a sample is contacted, the raw survey totals do not

represent the total effort and harvest for either village. Actual

totals are three to four times greater (depending on the number of

households available at the time of the survey). Researchers chose not

to extrapolate the survey totals, Instead, researchers computed average

effort and harvest statistics on the household level. This produces

comparable annual statistics with less risk of error than extrapolation.

The average. daily catch .per house also compensates for intangible

factors like weather and ice conditions.

Analysis of the survey data was relatively simple. Totals were

calculated for the harvest for each gear type, the number of houses

using each gear type, and the number of days reported for each gear

type0 Data from houses that could not remember either harvest or number

of days were temporarily set aside. The following statistics were

computed:

1. The total harvest for handlines was divided by the number of

houses using handlines, to obtain the average annual catch per

house for handlines.

2. The total harvest for pots was divided by the number of houses

using pots to obtain the average annual catch per house for pots.

3. The total harvest reported for both pots and handlines was

divided by the number of houses that crabbed to obtain the average

5

annual catch per house. This statistic was graphed for each

village in the findings section.

4. The total harvest for handlines was divided by the number of

days reported by handline users, to obtain the average daily catch

per house for handlines.

5. The total harvest for pots was divided by the number of days

reported by pot users, to obtain the average daily catch per house

for pots.

6. The total harvest for both pots and handljnes was divided by

the number of days reported to obtain the average daily catch per

house. This statistic was graphed for each village in the findings

section.

After these statistics were computed, the harvest totals were

adjusted by adding data from houses that could not remember their

harvest or the number of days they crabbed. In cases where the harvest

was supplied, but not the days, the harvest for the case was divided by

the average daily catch for other crabbers in that village, and the

result was added to the village's "days" total.. In cases where the

response to a query about days or harvest was "a few", the value "2" was

substituted. The value "3" was substituted for "several". Adjusted

totals were then figured. The extrapolations are used only to compute

adjusted harvest and effort totals, not to compute the average catch per

house statistics.

6

Findings were arranged by village. The presentation is the same for

each village. The narrative describes the 1984 harvest totals,

participation (number of houses crabbing), effort (number of days

crabbed), the statistical averages, and comments villagers had about

crabbing, ice conditions, weather, regulations, or other features of

crabbing, The narrative offers comparisons between 1984 and previous

years.

VILLAGE CRAB HARVESTS IN 1984

Gambell

Gambell was surveyed by Thomas for his 1981 report, but was not surveyed

in 1982 and 1983 for budgetary reasons. Gambell surveys resumed with

the 1983 season, as reported in the 1984 update. For this 1985 update,

15 Gambell households were surveyed between November 28 and December 2,

1984. Researchers were in town to conduct a hearing on state resumption

of marine mammal management November 29. Both marine mammals and crabs

were topics during the house-to-house visits, which was appropriate

considering the hunter-crab boat ronflict reported in 1983. On the

other hand, this made the survey process much slower, and fewer houses

were contacted. This affected the total effort and harvest reported.

But the average harvests are figured on a household basis, and should be

minimally affected.

Of 15 surveyed households, nine houses reported catching

approximately 733 king crab in 1984. This compares with catches of.448

in 1983, 387 in 1982, and 542 in 1981 between 15-18 active houses

7

N 75

U M B E

Annual Average Catch Per Household

75 -/s .77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84

N U M B E R

0 F

C R A B

Average Daily Catch Per Household'

Figure 2. Average Annual Catch Per House (top) and Average Daily Catch Per House (bottom) in Gambell from 1975 to 1984. Nine of the fifteen Gambell houses sampled in the 1984 subsistence survey reported crabbing. The 1984 average annual catch per house (top) was 81.4 crab. The 1984 average daily catch per house was 4.9 crab. The nine houses reported harvesting approximately 733 crab.

surveyed in previous years. The nine houses reported crabbing 135 days,

a figure that was heavily influenced by one extremely active household,

which reported crabbing 80 days. Excluding this household, average

effort was still somewhat higher in 1984 than in 1983. However, levels

of effort in 1980 and 1979 were higher than the average effort in 1984

(Thomas, 1981).

The average annual catch per house in 1984 was 81.4 crab, compared

with 29.3 crab in 1983, 9.2 in 1982, 29.5 in l'981, 38.2 in 1980, and

65.6 in 1979 (Fig. 2). The average daily catch per house in 1984 was

-4.9 crab, UP slightly from 4.2 in 1983. The highest average daily catch

was in 1981, when 12.6 crab per day per house were reported. However,

those data may be inflated as they were based on two-year recall by a

small sample of houses. . In comparison with past years for which here

are data, 1984 harvests appeared to be average to slightly above

average.

Ice conditions were good. That is, the ice was stable and ice

rubble was not excessive. The woman-who reported crabbing 80 days said

she crabbed almost every day beginning in January; the ice was so thick

she opened her hole every day. She spent about two hours crabbing every

afternoon, catching five to seven crab with three or four handlines.

The most crab caught in a single day, she reported, was 20. Some days,

she caught none. Her extra crab were shared among the villagers.

Female crab, when caught,.were invariably full of eggs, crabbers

reported. There was nothing reported to be unusual about the crab

caught. There appeared to be a normal mix of large crab, small crab, and

skip-molts.

9

One man reported catching about 100 crab in July in a salmon net

off Southeast Cape. Having no way to store them, he released all but 20

(these summer-caught crab are not included in the statistics). The

females were full of eggs. This same individual attempted to fish with

a pot through the .ice near Gambell, but with little success. A 14-day

soak produced one crab. He used a large sculpin for bait. Pots are not

commonly used on St. Lawrence Island, -partly because the ice shifts

frequently and partly because few people have found them productive.

The conflict between the commercial fleet and seal hunters -- a

major issue in 1983 -- failed to materialize in 1984. The commercial

season in 1983 continued through September, which is the busy seal

hunting time. As the season in 1984 closed August 31, less conflict was

expected. But more important, only one or two boats sailed to the St.

Lawrence section at the close of the Norton Sound fishery .on August 15.

No catch was reported. Islanders did report seeing one boat on the

south side of the Island in August, but they did not see it fishing. By

the time seal hunting began, this boat had disappeared. No others were

observed.

Gambell residents were generally pleased with the Board's action to

change the season timing and to increase the closed waters around the

Island.

Savoonga

Twenty three Savoonga households were surveyed between October 8 and

October 12, 1984. Savoonga residents crab at two widely separated

areas: Kookoolik about five miles east of the village on the north side

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of the island, and Powooiliak about 35 miles southwest of the village.

Kookoolik crabbing begins as soon as the ice settles (in January or

February) and continues throughout the season. Powooiliak crabbing

occurs only during the time of bowhead whaling (two or three weeks in

March and April). Because these two areas are far apart and because the

fisheries are quite different, data for Kookoolik and Powooiliak have

been considered separately in these reports.

Powooiliak

Crabbing effort at Powooiliak at Southwest Cape depends on activities

associated with whaling. If conditions are good for hunting, people

hunt.. If conditions are poor or whales are not available, some people

pass the time crabbing.

For the past three years, crabbing effort at Powooiliak has been

low. In 1984 only three houses reported crabbing during whaling camp.

One house crabbed 20,days, but estimated the catch totaled only five or

six crab. The other houses could not recall how many days they crabbed.

One estimated his catch at five or six crab, also. The other caught

none. Thus the total harvest of crab at Powooiliak in 1984 was ten to

twelve crab. The total harvests for previous years were 96 crab in

1983, 2 in 1982, and 298 in 1981. The number of houses crabbing were 5

in 1983, 2 in 1982, and 13 in 1981.

Average annual harvests and average daily harvests‘ for Powooiliak

are not shown. Considering how few. people crabbed in 1982, 1983, and

1984, The numbers of crab taken are relatively insignificant compared

with the harvests at Kookoolik.

11

Several of the people who camped at Powooiliak in 1984 said that crab

caught were smaller than in previous years.

Kookoolik

Crabbers at Kookoolik five miles east of Savoonga were more active and

more successful than at Southwest Cape. Still, 1984 was not the best

year reported. Some said that ice conditions were poor. Several said

it was -just too cold to crab.

Of 23 houses, six active households reported catching 165 crab in

1984 at Kookoolik. This compares with 23 in 1983, 823 in 1982, and 1 in

1981, caught by 6, 3, 20 and 7 households respectively. Effort among

the sampled houses in 1984 totaled 69 days, compared with 32 in 1983,

169 in 1982, and 24 in 1981.

The average annual catch per house was 23.5 crab in 1984. This was

greater than the 7.7 reported in 1983, but less than the 41.2 in 1982.

The average daily catch per house in 1984 was 2.1 crab. Daily averages

have ranged from 0.04 in 1981 to 4.6 in 1982. These data are presented

in Figure 3.

As in Gambell, there was one especially active crabber among the

sampled households, catching 107 crab in 17 days. He has continually

been one of the most intense crabbers at Savoonga. Crab in excess of

his needs are shared with other houses in the village.

12

N fii@

U M B E

R loo-

0 F

C

Average Annual Catch Per Household

75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 _. :’

N 20 U M

1 B Average Daily Catch Per Household '

E 7 R

0

F 70 'C 4 .

Figure 3. Average Annual Catch Per House (top) and Average Daily Catch Per House (bottom) on the North Side of St. Lawrence Island by Savoonga Crabbers from 1975 to 1984. Six of twenty three houses sampled in the 1984 subsistence survey reported crabbing. The 1984 average annual catch per house (top) was 23.5 crab. The 1984 average daily catch per house (bottom) was 2.1 crab. The six houses reported harvesting approximately 165 crab in 1984.

13

SUMMARY

Eight years have passed since the commercial crab fleet began exploring

for red and blue king crab in the northern Bering Sea. Since 1977,

management strategies have been adjusted based on new scientific

findings on crab distribution; abundance, reproduction, and harvests.

Commercial guideline harvests have been progressively reduced as crab

populations have declined. Near-shore closures and commercial harvests

reductions were imposed to help protect traditional subsistence crab

fisheries.

This year, only one local proposal has been submitted to change

commercial king crab regulations in the Norton Sound or the St. Lawrence

Island sections. Proposal number 90, from a Nome resident, would extend

the season for.winter commercial fishing. The winter fishery is small

and limited by ice conditions, so the proposal would have minimal impact

on total harvest.

Survey data from St. Lawrence Island indicate average to slightly

above average subsistence crab harvests in 1984. Subsistence -permit

data from Notie show similar catch success in the.Nome crab fishery.

Commercial harvests in the Norton Sound section have been gradually

increasing since 1982. The red king crab population appears to be

healthy and increasing. Commercial harvests in the St. Lawrence Island

section apparently did not occur in 1984. The intense commercial

exploration that occurred in 1983 apparently proved unprofitable for the

fleet. Given equal opportunity to fish the St. Lawrence Island section

and the Norton Sound section in 1984, virtually the entire fleet chose

to fish in Norton Sound. This decision by the fleet meant that there

14

was no conflict with subsistence seal hunting or crabbing activities on

St. Lawrence Island.

These findings suggest that a balance may be emerging between the

reproduction of local crab populations, on the one hand, and the

harvests of crab by commercial and subsistence users, on the other.

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APPENDIX 1

PROTOCOL FOR VILLAGE CRAB SURVEY

The following protocol of questions was used in conducting the village crab surveys for the 1983 season. The questions were preceeded by a general introduction of the researcher and the project.

1. "Did you go crabbing last winter? (IF "NO", GO TO QUESTION 13)

2. "Where did you crab?

3. "What kind of gear did you use?

(ASK HANDLINE USERS)

4. "What months did you crab with handlines?

5. "How many trips did you make in (month 1, month 2, etc.)?

6. 'How many crab did you catch in (month 1, month 2, etc.)?

7. "How many hours did you usually stay out.when you crabbed?

(ASK POT USERS)

8. "What months did you set your pots?

9. "How many days were your pots.set in (month I, month 2, etc.)?

LO, 'How many crab did your pots catch in (month 1, month 2, etc.)?

(ASK ALL CRABBERS)

11. 'Were your crab larger, smaller or about the same as before?

12. 'Did you catch any females? Many eggs?

(ASK ALL RESPONDENTS)

13. "Do you have any comments about crabbing in general?"

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APPENDIX 2

1984 SUBSISTENCE HARVESTS -- RAW DATA

Gambell

Gambell data were gathered in a house-to-house survey administered by

Magdanz between November 28 and December 2, 1984. Thomas contacted 30

houses in 1980, 25 were. contacted in 1983, and 15'were contacted in

1984. (See comments in Magdanz and Olanna 1984:56).

HOUSE HL DAYS* HL CRAB* .POT DAYS POT CRAB

02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

Did not crab Did not crab, Did not crab

Did not crab Unidentified

No data Unidentified Unidentified Unidentified No data

No data No data

No data No data No data No data No data Did not crab No data Did not crab Unidentified Unidentified

1 13 20 "3-4/day"

2 7-8 2 29

7 14

25-50.

6 "3-4/day"

(continued)

* HL = Hand .ine

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HOUSE HL DAYS HL CRAB POT DAYS POT CRAB

30 lo-25 50-100 31 80 "5-7/day" 32 No data 33 No data

TOTALS 118 DAYS 42 CRAB 14 DAYS 1 CRAB ADJ TOTALS 135 DAYS 733 CRAB

ADJUSTMENTS

House 30 reported crabbing lo-25 days, midpoint was 17 DAYS

House 05 reported 20 days with 3-4 crab/day- (20x3.5) 70 Crabs

House 08 reported 7-8 crab, midpoint was 7.5 Crabs

House 16 reported 25-50 crab, midpoint was 37.-S Crabs

House 19 reported 6 days with 3-4 crab/day (6x3.5) 21 Crabs

House 30 reported 50-100 crab midpoint was

House 31 reported 80 days with 5-7 crab/day (30x6)

Savoonga

75 Crabs

480 Crabs

Savoonga data were collected by Olanna between October 8 and October 12,

1984. Twenty three households were contacted; nine reported crabbing.

Kookoolik is on the north side of. St. Lawrence Island, approximately

five miles east of Savoonga. Powooiliak is on the south side of St.

Lawrence Island, near Southwest Cape.

HOUSE

KOOKOOLIK POWOOILIAK

DAYS CRAB DAYS CRAB

00 Not available 01 8-9 5-6 02 Did not crab 03 Did not crab, 04 20 5-6

(continued)

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KOOKOOLIK PowooILIAK

HOUSE DAYS CRAB DAYS CRAB

05 ? 5-6

"Several"

06 5-6 0 07 Did not crab 08 Did not crab 09 Did not crab. 10 Not available 11 Did not crab -12 Not available 13. .Did not drab 14 Not available 15 Did not crab 16 Did not crab 17 18 Did not crab 19 Not available 20 Did not crab 21 Did not crab

-22 Did not crab 23 Not available 24 17 107 25 25 0 26 Did not crab 27 Not available 28 ? 3-5/day 29 2 5 30 Did not crab

0

TOTALS 44 DAYS 112 CRAB 20 DAYS 11CRAB ADJ TOTALS 69 DAYS 165 CRAB

Kookoolik Adjustments

House 01 reported 3-9 days, midpoint was 7.5 Days House 06 reported 56 days, midpoint was 5.5 Days House 28 did not report days, assigned average 12.0 Days

25.0 DAY:

House 01 reported 5-6 crab, midpoint was 5;5 Crab House 28 reported 3-5 crab/day, midpoint was 4 (12 x 4) 48.0 Crab

53.5 CRAB

19

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Magdanz, Jim

1983. Norton Sound - Bering Strait Subsistence King Crab Fishery Update. Nome: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence Technical Paper Number 82.

1982. Norton Sound - Bering Strait Subsistence King Crab Fishery Update. Nome: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence Technical Paper Number 6.

Magdanz, Jim and Annie Olanna

1984. Norton Sound - Bering Strait Subsistence King Crab Fishery Update. Nome: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence Technical Paper Number 101.

Schwarz, Len and Charles Lean

1983a. Nearshore Winter King Crab 'Study, Norton Sound. Nome: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Commercial Fisheries.

Schwarz, Len, Charles Lean, Joe Dinnocenzo, Brian Bigler and Sue Merkouris

1983b. .Annual Management Report 1983, Norton Sound-Port Clarence - Kotzebue. Nome: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Commercial Fisheries.

Thomas, Daniel C.

1981. Norton Sound-Bering Strait Subsistence King Crab Fishery. Nome: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence Technical Paper Number 12.

20